Prince Rama announce “psych-opera” film Never Forever and European tourdates through a series of ritualistic hand gestures

It’s been a fair while since I first caught Prince Rama in concert, and if there wasn’t third-party confirmation to the contrary, I’d be inclined to accept the notion that Taraka and Nimai Larson had (in the meantime, and through sheer will) become half human/half apparition. You can highlight the overt spiritualism underpinning their music and their personal philosophies, but going further, it’s necessary to point out one detail in particular: their most recent album on Paw Tracks, Top Ten Hits of the End of World, is about DEAD PEOPLE. More specifically, it was about fictitious bands dying in an apocalypse, and subsequently being channeled for a final performance. If a spirit world exists, those spirits almost definitely have framed photographs of Prince Rama on their bedside table.

Which brings us to the duo’s even more recent exercise in undead reverence: to supplement the album, they’ve announced Never Forever, a “Now Age psych-opera” film featuring songs from Top Ten Hits of the End of the World. There’s no word on when the entire thing will be released to the public, but go here for screen caps and watch below for a trailer:

Is this real life? Was that a studded glove?

European tourdates, featuring new band members Christopher Burke and Michael Collins on bass and synthesizer, respectively, offer a bit of reassurance…

oOoOO SNAP! Chris Dexter, the witchy San Francisco-based producer behind the many-voweled moniker is taking a breather from his longstanding relationship with Tri Angle Records to release his first-ever album on his own new label, the appropriately difficult to spell/know-how-to pronounce Nihjgt Feelings. Entitled Without Your Love, the release will be Dexter’s full-length debut, due out June 24 and featuring lead track “Stay Here (ft. ML),” which can be heard below:

This spring, oOoOO will be venturing across these United States of ours to rep said album. Starting in May, Dexter sets out from sunny California to embark on a series of mysteeeeeerious tourdates. So mysterious that no one has even said exactly WHERE he is playing in these cities! But there’s a rough itinerary for ya below, if’n ya so desire it, and as always, watch this space for further updates. If anyone tells you to call a phone number and get a location from a hotline on the night of the show, don’t listen. This oOoOO tour isn’t a rave (maybe), and it’s not 1997 (definitely).

I know how it goes, dude. You’re not a college kid anymore. You don’t have time for weed and comics and metal and whatnot the way you used to. You like all that stuff still, but let’s face it; life is coming at you faster than ever, and the time has come to put away childish things (or however that saying goes). So, in case you’ve chosen to hide all the posts from that one Facebook friend of yours who is just cripplingly into all-things-weed because you’re sick of all of his regular Dr. Who philosophizing, “original” poetry, and regular sharing of Ram Das quotations, let me at least do you a solid favor and fill you in really quickly and cogently on where everything’s at with Queens of the Stone Age. Sound good? Let’s go!

First up, they’ve signed to Matador and have got a new record coming out on June 4. It’s called …Like Clockwork and is their first new one since 2007’s Era Vulgaris. This one seems to be a bit of a big deal, as — according to the press release — they’ve re-recruited Dave Grohl to play some drums on the thing (along with Joey Castillo and Jon Theodore) and brought former members Mark Lanegan and Nick Oliveri back into the fold; and there’s even guest spots from the likes of Sir Elton John and Trent Reznor. Holy shit. Doesn’t sound like “clockwork” to me!

Secondly, they premiered a track off of the new LP yesterday on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show, called “My God Is the Sun.” Check it out below if you’ve got a few minutes. Or maybe just bookmark it for later. I know you’ve got responsibilities. (If you end up being into it, you can pre-order the album right now on iTunes and at the Matador site and get that track as an immediate free download with your purchase. Nice, huh?)

Thirdly, the band is hitting the festival circuit pretty hard this summer after the album comes out. To be honest, it’s kind of a confusing jumble of overlapping dates, since all those European fests usually span a couple of days or whatever, but I’ll go ahead and organize and format and post them all for you anyway. Because I know that your time is valuable.

It’s a real problem (note: it isn’t) affecting America today. Entire bars, bowling alleys, and Guitar Center franchises are empty. The dudes have gone. They’re disappearing faster than those honey bees that are “mysteriously” dying off because humans can’t take care of the Earth and shit. Dudes. Where have you gone, Dudes? The rallying cry sounds out across these United States.

But hold your heads up, purveyors of PBR and loose-fitting jeans! New Jersey-bred garage punks Titus Andronicus have a new album out on XL Recordings, called Local Business (TMT Review). And to rep that album, they’re embarking with their friends The So So Glos on a long and sweaty US tour, which they have dubbed the Bring Back the Dudes Tour. Bring ‘em back! If there’s anything America needs in her hour of strife, it’s DUDES. And of course, limited-edition Record Store Day 12-inch EPs, which the dudes in Titus Andronicus have been kind enough to put together. Aptly titled Record Store Day, the band’s offering will include one track from Local Business (“Still Life with Hot Deuce and Silver Platter”), plus two previously unreleased songs “(I’ve Got A) Date Tonight” and “The Dog.” ‘Merica thanks you, Titus Andronicus. In Dudes We Trust.

You know my boy Collsy Stetz, right? Total sax star, super tight with Bone Ivers, mega chill dude. Right. Well, he’s got a new album comin’ out April 30 on the Constellation label called New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light, and it’s gonna be some rad, mad shit. Maybe you caught that preview a few weeks ago? Probably; I mean, it was def all over the radio. And you’re into his last one, right? Right. Yeah, I’m pretty sure everyone was.

Well, anyways, I saw on P4K that our boy went and made a couple of visuals for two tracks (“In Mirrors” and “And in Truth”) with the help of those dudes Kurtis Hough, Dan Huiting, and Tabb Firchau (you know them, right?). You probs already saw, but check out the vid below if not. J-Vern is all over that second track, and it totally reminds me of Kanye. He’ll be out on the road in May promoting it too, dude (Cols, I mean, not Kanye LOL!). We should all try to hang out before then.

New History Warfare Vol. 3: To See More Light tracklisting:

01. And in Truth
02. Hunted
03. High Above a Grey Green Sea
04. In Mirrors
05. Brute
06. Among the Sef
07. Who the Waves Are Roaring For
08. To See More Light
09. What Are They Doing in Heaven Today
10. This Bed of Shattered Bone
11. Part of Me Apart From You

If you don’t live in New York or Los Angeles, chances of seeing your favorite underground artists playing a show are pretty slim outside of a hometown setting, e.g. Kevin Drumm playing in Chicago. Chances of seeing Prurient, Demdike Stare, or Lussuria playing in Denver? Pretty much none; I don’t even know why I bother to think about it.

Chances of seeing them play in Vittorio Veneto, Italy, however? One hundred percent guaranteed. Add that city to the list of exclusive areas where the demigods of subterranean music set foot on Earth to rattle bones and burst eardrums. They will alight at Coda Lunga for Three Days of Struggle 6, curated by noise artist Nico Vascellari and Dominick Fernow of Prurient/Hospital Productions/Vatican Shadow fame. The lineup is demented. On May 10, Mike Connelly (of Hair Police and Wolf Eyes) performs under his solo alias Failing Lights alongside the mysterious and fascinating ambient-weirdness unit Lussuria. May 11 ups the ante with William Bennett’s “afro-noise” handle Cut Hands orbiting the premiere of Tara and Mike Connelly’s new group Clay Rendering.

If one struggles through those two days (really, it going to be delightful), the reward on May 12 is great indeed: rumbling industrial gods Demdike Stare and drone bodhisattva Kevin Drumm. If your hearing was intact up to that point, perhaps a simple ceremony before Mr. Drumm’s set is in order. Oh yes and the man himself, Dominick Fernow, will be providing a no-doubt pummeling DJ set every night (though mysteriously not under his DJ Jonbenet alias).

So there you have it; one of the more ridiculous noise/ambient/drone/what-have-you festivals so far this year. You can grip a three-day pass on Nico Vascellari’s Coda Lunga site, but there are only 100 passes in total so get over there fast. Which brings me to the crux of this piece: who wants to fly me to Italy?